01727 736 690

The two big things that will dramatically change eCommerce in the next decade

These aren’t so much brand new inventions – this is more of an evolution. But, as we know, when it comes to the intersection of social media, content and commerce, we’re pretty confident that small-but-seismic shifts will take place.

Here’s what we already know: we’re entering the age of mobile. Customers are getting more sophisticated, and retailers have to stay ahead. But what role does data play in this, and how can you stay in control of your content?

Metrics: your business will live or die by them
Mere segmentation is no longer enough. It’ll be standard practice to use data to build personal profiles of individuals; the smart business will be asking about the value of each customer rather than a wide demographic. You can use this information to learn from customers, develop relationships, and change the way your business makes decisions.

Cutting through the immense quantities of data, and connecting the dots across the business, will take methods of extraction and analysis that are still in their early stages. Those big numbers will eventually equip you to make smaller, minute-to-minute decisions about offering promotions and deals, buying keywords, and giving your customers a fantastic experience that will keep them loyal.

You’ll need to scale your operations to match your customers’ needs, though – achieving efficiency will be even more challenging when you’re juggling multiple channels. That way, you can judge the size of the range you need, marketing spend, and how to make stock available to a customer who’s just around the corner – or overseas.

The bottom line is that being able to say ‘yes’ to your customers, and being able to offer them something they want before they ask, will sustain your business beyond the next decade.

The answer to this riddle is still being worked out: How long is a piece of ROPO (research online and purchase online)? As the decade rolls on, you’ll see intelligent data solutions to tell a BORIS (buy online, return in-store) from a BIMBO (browse in-store on mobile, buy online), and serve their needs accordingly. There’s not such a snappy acronym for ‘high value offline, lapsed online’ – and likely won’t be for the increasingly complex customer behaviours that will develop.

Content will rule; make sure you’ve got the right balance
The hunger for content isn’t dying down. Now that it’s a bonafide strategy for building relationships with customers and loyalty, it’s unstoppable. Mobile is at the heart of this; figures from venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers say that adults are spending around 3 hours a day on their phones or tablets. The big challenge is to cut through the noise and make sure that customers are spending some of their time engaging with your content.

That’s where a competitive content and search optimisation strategy comes in; also, video. We’ve mentioned before how important video is becoming for retailers. Using the success of (often unintentionally) ‘viral’ videos, retailers are creating more exciting video content, which is great for describing products – but a lot of companies will have that idea, given that almost two-thirds of all internet traffic will be driving towards video. A tip from us: hooking a product or service video on a pop culture moment is a strategy that seems future-proof, delights your customers, and attracts new eyes to your brand.

We may be heading for ‘peak content’, but if content is well thought-out and backed by strong search and targeting, it will always rise to the top.

As an eCommerce Recruitment agency it is our job to keep up with these trends and to help you be aware of how these trends affect your skillset.